Activated carbon



Patented May 28, 1935 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE? ACTIVATED CARBON Edgar '1. Olson, Marquette, Mich assignor to v'lhe Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio No Drawing. Application August 2, 1933, Serial No. 683,380

10 Claims. (Cl. 252-3) This invention relates to'activated carbon for least four parts in one million and some conuse commercially in purifying, decolorizing and tain much greater amounts. It has a very low various filtering operations, and more particulariron content, usually under .025% as compared lv relates to highly activated wood charcoal for with iron contents of at least .1% and as high these and similar purposes. as 1.3% in other carbons. It has an extremely l Heretoiore, activated carbons, commercially low electrical resistance, which, it is believed, inemployed for filtering, purifying, and other like dicates that it contains less included volatiles. operations were for the most part made from In astandard test, it was found that at room temfinely divided carbon obtained from powdered perature 1 c b h f this Charcoal 03ers 10 coal, such as lignite or from the charred remresistance of 41.8 ohms with electrodes pressing nants of vegetable matter formed as a by-prodagainst the ends of the material with a pressure not in the production of wood pulp. These vaof 1 pounds pa w an v a e erious forms of carbon have inherent properties sistance 200% eater and a low resistance of which prevent their extensive use for high grade g a e Ofiered by other forms of activated l5 .piu'poses. For example, in many cases they are carbon now obtainable. 7

too powdery or finely divided to be retained by The product comprising this invention has the the customary filters. Moreover, their production extremely low ash con 1 approxi a ely 3.7% is slow and costly, for they are usually activated to in the unwashed state, and .1% to 1% in by a multi-step operation or by repeated actithe washed state, as determined by the-coal vating steps. Prior to the present invention wood analysis test of the American Society for Testing charcoal has not been commercially activiated Materials. This compares with an average ash in such a manner that it could compete satiscontent in other activated carbons which is factorily with other activated carbons on the appr xim ely greater. I

market. It has an extremely high iodine absorption The activating methods used heretofore have factor as compared with other wood charccals.

employed chemicals suchas zinc chloride, calcium This factor is ordinarily determined by a proacetate, sodium carbonate, phosphoric acid or cedure such as follows: Add 1 gram of the carother like' chemicals in various treating operabon to 50 of d -P a ium od de tions. These methods do not adversely affect the solution; shake exactly 3 minutes; filter, discard finely divided carbon made from lignite or from ing first runnings; and then determine iodine :1.

pulp digesting liquors, but they are harmful to content of an aliquot portion with a standard, wood charcoal because they break down the celsodium thiosulfate solution, using starch as an lular structure of the wood, which interferes indicator. In running this test upon the chirwith the activating thereof and destroys the adcoal of the present invention, an iodine absorption '35 vantages of the cellular structure. factor of 74.6% was obtained. This compares The former activated carbons have contained with an average absorption factor of about 50% a rather high percentage of ash, chlorides, iron, in known activated carbons. This iodine absorparsenic, glycerine solubles, and included volatiles. tion test is a very good indicator of the suitability The apparent density of former activated carof carbons for purifying and other industrial uses 40 bons has been small and the electrical resistance and it is employed more or less commonly as a high. Also the iodine and phenol absorption means of checking the quality ofthe activated characteristics of such prior carbons have been carbon. low and the products have not maven satisfac- The charcoal of the present invention has an tory in many uses. extremely high phenol absorption value. Incom- The activated wood charcoalof the present inparative tests, according to one method, given vention avoids the shortcomings of the prior identical amounts of phenol in-solution were. hownactivated carbons and possesses many subjected, respectiveiy,totreatment withidentical new properties, characteristics and advantages. amounts of difierent types of carbon, and after The new and improved activated wood charcoal ide t ca agi and filterin operat ons o each of the present invention is highly activated. It sample, the percent of phenol left ineach solution is hard and porous and retains the original celwas determined. The following resul W biular structure of the .wood from which it is tained: Charcoal of the present invention, 15.9% made. It'has a crystalline appearance and sparphenol absorption; other activated carbons, apkles in bright light. It is free of arsenic while proximately 10% phenol absorption. Expressed I other chemically activated carbons contain at in terms o; the standard Bayliss phenol test phenol reduction rate of 30 to 15 parts per millio whereas other chemical carbons range 38 to 125 parts per million. This test briefly consists in determiningthe number of parts per million of carbon which must be added to reduce the phenol content of a given sample of water from .10 to .01 part per million.

The apparent density of the product of the present invention ranges from .45 to as high as .60. The average apparent density of other activated wood charcoals is approximately .42. The apparent densities of different carbons was determined by confining 100 cc. of the material in a chamber and tamping the confined material until there was no change in volume. The reduction in thevolume was then taken as the apparent density which means that this figure represents the voids in the material. All the foregoing values of the present product were obtained from wood charcoal activated by the single-step process outlined hereinafter.

The present product is exceptionally valuable for substantially all commercial and industrial purifying, decolorizing, and filtering uses. Moreover, it can-be readily reactivated after it has become saturated with substance with which it is used and so can be used over and over again.

In producing the activated wood charcoal of the present invention substantially any wood charcoal can be employed'which is not too crumbly or soft to survive the treating operation. In general, any wood which retains itscellular structure' during the entire operation can be employed. Such woodsinclude for example: beech, birch, hard pine, maple and oak.

My copending application Serial No. 687,063, filed August 28, 1933, relates generally to a process for producing highly activated carbon and this process may be usedto produce the activated charcoal of this application. The process briefly may comprise producing charcoal by substantially any known method from wood in which the grain structure is fairly well defined. The

charcoal may be granulated, graded and cleaned of dust after which it is subjected to activatin temperatures which drive all included volatiles from the charcoal. During the heating operation steam is passed thru the charcoal which assists in the proper activation thereof. Preferably the heating of the charcoal is accomplished by passing the charcoal continuously between electrodes of, an electric furnace so that the charcoal is qresistance heated to temperatures as high as 3300' 1'. After activation the charcoal may be ground to any degree of fineness wanted and can 'be used in any purifying, decolorlzing, or other treating or filtering operation that may be desired.

ment, the size of the treating chamber, the

. amount of steam employed, the wattage of the electric current and the activating temperature,

etc., are very carefully and definitely related and controlled in accordance with the teachings in copending application, Serial No. 687,063,

. maybe correlated as follows: In an electric furnaoc having an inner electrode about 4. inches in diameter and approximately 36" long, and an The various factors, such as the size and rate 'of movement of the granules, the time of treatouter cylindrical electrode about 12" internal diameter and approximately 36" long which surrounds the inner electrode, the charcoal which has been granulated'to pass thru about a four mesh screen, is fed continuously thru the furnace between the inner and outer electrodes at from /2 inch to 5 inches per hour. Thus an amount such as 500# of charcoal can be activated in 24 hours. Alternating electric current of approximately 30 a'mperes at about 500 volts is ordinarily employed. The amount of.steam introduced into the charcoal during the heating operation may be in the neighborhood of l# to 2# per hour.

In accordance with the patent statutes the invention has been specifically described; however, it will be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited thereby but is defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Activated hard wood charcoal, substantially free from dust, crystalline and sparkly in appearance, having the original cell structure of the wood, and having an electrical resistance of under 70 ohms to the cubic inch, an ash content in the unwashed state of under 7%, an iodine absorption factor of over 60%, a phenol absorption factor of under 30 parts per million (Bayliss), an apparent density of over .5, an iron content of under .1%, and said charcoal being substantially free of arsenic and glycerine solubias.

2. Activated carbon, capable of use in filtering liquids, substantially free from dust, crystalline and sparkly in appearance, in which the original cell structure of the material is preserved, said activated carbon having an electrical resistance of under '70 ohms to the cubic inch, an ash content in the unwashed state of under 7%, an iodine absorption factor of over 60%, a phenol absorption factor of under 30 parts per million (Bayliss) an apparent density of over .5, an iron content of under .1%, and said carbon being substantially free -of arsenic and glycerine soluble.

3. Light porous activated wood charcoal, capable of use in filtering liquids, crystalline and sparkly in appearance, in which the original cell structure of the wood is preserved, said activated charcoal having an electrical resistance of under 70 ohms to the cubic inch, an ash content in the unwashed state of under 7%, an iodine absorption of over 60%, a phenol absorption of under 30 parts per million (Bayliss), an apparent density of over .5, and an iron content of under .1%. I

4. Activated hard wood charcoal substantially dust free, crystalline and sparkly in appearance, in which the original cell structure of the wood is preserved, said activated charcoal having an electrical resistance of under '10 ohms to the cubic inch, an ash content in the unwashed state of under.7%, an iodine absorption of over 60%. a phenol absorption of under 30 parts per million (Bayliss), andan apparent density of over .5.

5. Activated hard wood charcoal,- and sparkly in appearance, in which the original cell structure of the wood is preserved, said acti- I vated charcoal having an electrical resistance of under-10 ohms to the cubic inch, an iodine absorption of over a phenol absorption of under 30 parts per million (Bayliss), and an apparent density of over .5.

p 6. Activated hard wood charcoal having an electrical resistance of under '10 ohms to the eubic inch, an ash content in the unwashed state 70 of under 7%, an iodine absorption of over 80%, a phenol absorption oi under 30 parts per million (Bayliss), an apparent density of over .5, an iron content of under .1%, said charcoal being substantlally tree of arsenic and glycerine solubles.

'l. Activated hard wood charcoal capable of use in illtering liquids which, after being treated to a single activation, is crystalline and sparkly and has the cellular body 01' the original wood preserved, said charcoal having an iodine ab-- sorption value of over 60%, a phenol absorption value of under 30 parts per million, an ash content in the unwashed state of under 7%, and an apparent density of over .5%.

8. Activated hardwood charcoal having the properties characteristic of those possessed by charcoal made from the same wood by passing a such charcoal in mnulansubatantially dusti'ree form thru an electric furnace between inner and outer electrodes, and heating the charcoal to a temperature of between about 8000' I". and

8300 1''. for about one hour by passing electric current thru it between said electrodes while subjecting the charcoal to the action ofsteam.

9. Activated hardwood charcoal having properties characteristic of those possessed by charcoal made from the same kind oi wood by passing such charcoal in granular, substantially dustiree, form thru an electrical furnace between inner and outer electrodes at the rate of about 500 pounds per 24 hours, and resistance heatins the charcoal to between about 3000 F and about 3300 F.- torabout one hour by passing thru the charcoal between said electrodes an electric current of about 500 volts at about 30 amperes while subjecting the charcoal to the action oi. steam at the rate of about 1 to 2 pounds per hour.

10. Light, porous,'cellular, substantially dust free, granular activated hardwood charcoal having an iodine absorption value or over about 60%.

mean 'rfozson. 

